TWIA

It took roughly a dozen years, but David and Sue James finally had their day in court to seek recovery for damage caused to their home in 2005’s Hurricane Rita.

Parties selected a jury from a pool of 60 on Tuesday, Feb. 22, in Jefferson County Judge Justin Sanderson’s 60th District Court and proceeded to commence a trial that lasted longer than a week to hear.

Chambers of commerce representing Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Galveston, La Marque, Port Aransas, Port Arthur, Portland and Texas City came together in Corpus Christi on Friday, July 25, to address sustainable funding for Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. Local city and county governments joined the group led by Foster Edwards, CEO/President of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce and hosted by the city of Corpus Christi.

State Rep. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) made national news late last month when he released a report stating that since Hurricane Ike struck the Texas Gulf Coast more than four years ago, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) has paid out more than $1.2 billion dollars on individually litigated claims related to the disaster.

When Hurricane Ike devastated a large section of the upper Texas Gulf Coast, it exposed not only the vulnerability of man-made structures to nature’s fury but the inadequacy of the measures put in place to deal with the resulting financial ruin.

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.